Alabama Softball Team Ready for College World Series

From UA Sports Information:

- Alabama is making its ninth appearance in the Women's College World Series- The Tide's first appearance in the Women's College World Series came in 2000, just the fourth year of the program's existence and the second under Head Coach Patrick Murphy.- Alabama would not advance to the winners bracket until its seventh trip in 2011, defeating Cal and Baylor before ultimately dropping two games to Florida.- The program's first national title and the first for any SEC team came in 2012, when Alabama dropped its opening game to Oklahoma before rebounding with two wins. Alabama trailed game three early, 3-0, before a rain delay turned the tables, allowing Alabama to eventually come back to win, 5-4.- The 2001 and 2002 seasons are the last time the Tide have missed the Women's College World Series in back-to-back seasons.- Alabama was 2-8 in its first four appearances in Oklahoma City, but is 11-7 in its four most-recent appearances.

SERIES HISTORY VS. OKLAHOMAAlabama and Oklahoma have met nine times in program history, with the Tide holding a 6-3 edge in the all-time series. The two teams' first meeting was just the second game in Alabmaa history, as the Sooners shut out the Tide 12-0 in six innings on Feb. 15, 1997. Alabama would even the series in the next matchup, defeating Oklahoma 6-1 on Feb. 22, 2002 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The first meeting in posteason play would come in 2003, as Oklahoma knocked Alabama out of the Women's College World Series with a 6-3 win in extra innings. Alabama would win the next two meetings before the two teams met in the 2012 national championship series, where Alabama took two out of three games to win its first national championship.

NEXT TIME OUT: WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESThe winner of Thursday's matchup will advance to play the winner of Louisiana-Lafaeyette vs. Kentucky on Friday, May 30 at 8:30 p.m. CT, while the losers in both matchups will meet in an elimination game on Saturday, May 31 at 1:30 p.m. Both games are set to be aired on ESPN2.